Spring Love
by Redline57
Summary: Hikari takes notice of her roommate's sadness. She decides to be assertive and push to find out what's troubling Yaya. But what happens when she pushes too hard?
1. Assertiveness

A simple story of Yaya and Hikari

Chapter 1: Assertiveness

The night was quiet with a cool wind blowing over Astraea Hill. In her room, Yaya sat solemnly with her head hung, thinking yet again about her roommate. She slumped to her side on her bed, a faint sadness in her eyes, wondering why she had to fall in love with a girl who had the Prince of Spica looking after her.

"Its not fair. What does she see in that tall drink of water anyway?" Yaya sighed with her eyes looking at nothing in particular. If only she had told Hikari how much she loved her before she was dating Amane, maybe, just maybe, she might…

"No. I can't think of this anymore. It's driving me nuts. I need to just forget about that stupid blonde. No, not stupid. She's sweet. A beautiful, caring, graceful, wonderful angel that I suppose I will never have in the way I want. If I can't stop loving her, at least I can stop obsessing over her. I think its time for me to finally let it go", Yaya said with a depressed tone and a dry mouth. "I need something to drink."

Picking up her room key, the raven-haired damsel headed down the hall, took a drink from the water fountain, and headed out of the dorms. She strolled off of the sidewalks and slowly walked a ways from the Strawberry Dorms, wandering along the edge of a wooded area. As she walked, the cool wind helped calm her nerves as well as chill her body. "Should have brought a jacket I suppose."

The third year student of St. Spica Girls Institute, Nanto Yaya, wandered around campus heading along a path towards Astraea Lake. Yaya is a rather enigmatic one. Walking slowly and carefully along the worn path to avoid any branches, one would note her proper posture, her waist-length hair and her curvatious hips and chest. Even from hearing her leading voice of the choir, most wouldn't know that behind her eyes and her smile is an inner feeling of sorrow. In spite of her rationality and common sense, when it came to the one she loved she was as lost in her mind as anyone could be.

As she walked in front of the lake, Yaya looked up at the stars, covered barely by a few traces of clouds lit only by the moonlight. She stood with an air of sadness about her, feeling the intermittent breeze blow wisps of her hair As she felt a light breeze cool her legs, she looked up and a pang of sadness caused a light tear to roll down her cheeks.

"I know I should stop loving you Hikari, but just not tonight." Sitting down in front of the lake, she looks down with tears in her eyes, thinking yet another night of the angel that she loves. "Dammit Hikari, why can't I stop loving you?"

Yaya arrived back at the dorms around 9:30, quietly sneaking in as to avoid another punishment from the headmistress. As she unlocked the door to her room, the knob turned and the door opened by itself. Yaya looked up with shock, worrying she had been caught, but was met with Hikari standing in front of her in a nightgown. Hikari gasped, but immediately relaxed as she scolded in a hushed tone

"Yaya-chan! Where have you been, hurry up!" Hikari grabbed her roommate's hand and pulled her inside while quickly but quietly closing the door. "You can't be out this late. I was worried you were hurt, or that you had gotten caught by the headmistress again." She looked down and realized Hikari was still holding her hand, and subtly relaxed her hand out of the petite girl's grip.

"I could say the same thing about you Hikari. When I had left, it was already pretty late. Another late night with Amane, huh?" Yaya smirked and rested her hand on her cocked hip.

Hikari faintly blushed and muttered "ah, yeah. Time got away from us." She looked sheepishly up at Yaya, who dropped her taunting expression, and simply turned to get her clothes.

"I'm going to clean up and get ready for bed." Hikari watched as her roommate turned away and walked into the bathroom. She noticed that Yaya had stopped her teasing somewhat abruptly, something she was doing a lot more of these days. When the door closed, Hikari let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in. The events of earlier in the evening started to replay in her head.

The third year student known as Konohana Hikari sat on her bed contemplating how to ask her roommate to open up to her. Hikari stood just a hair shorter than her roommate, with curly, flowing blonde hair, a slimmer frame, and lately a slight look of worry around her roommate. Since they met, Yaya had always been a great friend to her, always looking out for her and putting her consideration at the forefront of her own. With the exception of one evening after a certain date, she had never doubted Yaya's ability to keep her safe. That is until lately when she noticed Yaya's demeanor had changed.

"That's right. I need to remember what Amane and I talked about. I need to be strong and be more assertive. Something has been bothering Yaya for a while now." After voicing her concerns with Amane, the two of them had a long talk this evening. Hikari had asked for advice about Yaya being so distant lately, and Amane suggested that Yaya was much tougher and more complex than Hikari thought, and that she wouldn't open up about what was bothering her with one simple question. Yaya's apathy and smirking may have fooled Hikari, but Amane guessed that it was just a shell to hide what was bothering her inside. On the walk back, Hikari decided that she would try and find out what's been bothering Yaya and help make her feel better. Even given all that has happened in the past, Yaya was her best friend, and she cared about her enough to try. "I have to be strong for Yaya's sake. She would do anything to cheer me up. I have to do the same for her."

She emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later, breaking Hikari from her trance. Hikari stood there like a deer in the headlights, watching Yaya walk to her dresser. She changed right in front of Hikari, thinking nothing of it, and when she was finished, looked over and noticed the girl staring right at her. "Something the matter Hikari?"

"Oh, no. Um, Yaya-chan? Can I ask you something?" _That's right, I've got to be strong, for Yaya-chan._

Yaya hated this part. Hikari would ask if everything was okay. Hopelessly in love with her roommate, whom she has to sleep near every night, Yaya found this occurrence was becoming commonplace. So as usual, Yaya had to put on her fake smile and tell her everything was fine. After all, she loved Hikari so much that she wanted her to be happy, even if it was with someone else. So the masquerade continued. She huffed and spoke. "Yes Hikari. What is it?"

"Um, Yaya-chan, are you feeling alright? Lately you haven't been the same. Are you sure something isn't bothering you?" _Come on Hikari, that wasn't nearly assertive enough._

"Yes Hikari, I'm fine. Thank you for asking. Now lets go to bed."

Hikari gulped and readied herself. _Okay, time to be strong. For Yaya-chan._ Hikari mustered up as much courage as she could. "Yaya-chan! You always say that. But I'm worried about you. You're my best friend and I care about you. Something has changed. I know it has! Even your teasing you do to me, it's not the same. And although it may have bothered me at first, I miss it. I don't want you to have to be this strong around me anymore Yaya-chan. Please…" Hikari's face started to turn a feint red and her eyes started to get moist. Nonetheless, she steeled herself, straightened her back, blinked her eyes to try and wipe away the tears and continued. "I really think something is bothering you and I want to be your best friend again. Tell me Yaya-chan. Tell me what I can do for you."

Yaya was taken aback. It's not often for her to see Hikari being any bit stern with her. Hearing her best friend sound genuinely concerned about her gave her a warmth in her heart. But that warmth didn't even last a second. Yaya immediately thought about how even though she was being strong, the memories of Hikari came rushing back into her mind, as well as the feeling of love she had for the blonde. Yaya decided to once again steel herself and put on her façade as strongly as she could, to hide her feelings and not say a word. She smirked, and swallowed and was about to open her mouth to say something like "Hikari, I really am fine, you're over thinking things." But the look in Hikari's eyes, so strong and yet so caring had already done its damage. _So much for deciding to give up on Hikari, at least_ _for now._ At this moment, Yaya was still head over heels in love with the girl standing right in front of her, sounding so caring, and yet it pained her so much to not be able to tell her, that her smirk fell right off her face. And for the first time in a while, Hikari saw Yaya look sad. Full of sorrow and a longing in her heart, Yaya looked at Hikari and started to cry.

"Hikari….you…you just…." At a total loss for words, and not wanting Hikari to see her crying like she had so many times in private, she did the only thing she could think of. She leapt forward and embraced Hikari firmly and pulled her entire body flat against hers.

"Thank you Hikari. It means a lot to me that you're trying so hard to make me happy. I've been feeling down because…I missed having you around all the time before…" Yaya thought of the girl who was taking up all of Hikari's time and grimaced inside. "…you became so busy lately. But knowing that you are looking out for me makes me feel like a best friend again. Thank you Hikari." She lied again, but it was for Hikari's happiness, and that was all that mattered. Hikari didn't need to know that she was in love with her and that she was upset, not because Hikari was gone, but because Hikari's heart yearned for someone other than her.

"You've always been my best friend Yaya-chan, and you still are." Hikari did care, and she stood there, hugging her for what seemed like minutes while Yaya's tears dried. Maybe Yaya didn't have her as a girlfriend, but she had her as a best friend. And that was good enough. Yaya felt a different warmth in her heart. Maybe it was relief. Maybe this time she really could finally be okay getting over Hikari. Because all things considered, she still had her best friend.

Yaya looked into Hikari's eyes. "Thanks Hikari, I mean it." She huffed and smiled at her best friend. "Now seriously, lets get to sleep."

"Okay." Hikari smiled warmly. "Yaya-chan, would you like to sleep together?" Yaya's body temperature went up several degrees and felt like her heart was about to explode._ No, Hikari meant that in the most platonic, friend-like way. Do NOT think like that Nanto Yaya, you JUST resolved that Hikari would be your friend and nothing more._ "No, I'll be fine. But thanks though." Yaya smiled genuinely at Hikari, despite her body now being in high gear. They parted and crawled into their beds, Hikari falling into a quiet sleep, Yaya laying awake and pondering her thoughts for an hour before falling to sleep.


	2. Just Friends

Yaya woke up the next morning to Hikari shaking her. "Yaya-chan! You're going to be late for class, wake UP!"

"…wha the bucket of fleas, huh?" she looked up with one eye open, having her vision shaken side to side to a very-annoying-at-this-hour Hikari shaking her whole torso.

"Yaya-chan, come ON, we are going to miss breakfast too!"

"Alright, I'm up I'm up." Yaya sat up and immediately recalled the dream she had last night. It was a rerun again – a dream about the time Yaya stole Hikari's first kiss. She unconsciously reached for her lips and then remembered the talk they had last night. Yaya had lied to Hikari. But after seeing her caring, for the first time in weeks Yaya woke up happy, with a real resolve that she could finally get over being in love with Hikari and just go back to liking her like a best friend…if she could. _She's still a pain in the ass in the morning_.

Yaya and Hikari rushed to the dining hall for breakfast before class. And by rushed, it means Hikari was running looking backwards with her hand dragging Yaya half-asleep through campus. Breakfast was eaten, thanks were given, the dining hall was vacated, and soon the girls arrived at class. When Yaya's brain finally woke up, the previous morning as well as last night settled in. She thought about it throughout class and smiled genuinely at the realization that she could finally be friends with Hikari once again.

The next week went by smoothly. Yaya was happy when Hikari was around. Hell, Yaya was happy most of the time. Except for those moments. She wasn't happy those moments when she saw Hikari with her 'precious' Prince of Spica. Yaya's smile would immediately turn upside down and that happiness would temporarily turn to something between jealous and anger. "Stupid Prince, she should stick to her horses."

The following week also went by fairly well… most of the time. But as things went, Yaya and Hikari had less time together in the Saintly Chorus and Hikari spent even more time with her girlfriend. This gave Yaya time to think, and during said time to think, she didn't exactly cope well. One afternoon, Yaya was going to walk up to surprise Hikari from behind, but the object of her affection ran across the field to say hi to Amane, who didn't hear her at first and ignored Hikari for a full two minutes. Hikari waited like a young girl with a crush on the new kid. Yaya's face faltered and she stopped far back enough to not be noticed. _Stupid flat-chested horse-rider. Took her that long to notice a perfect angel watching right over to her. And what's with that relationship? Hikari still has that first glance type crush, how long have they been dating? And still calling her senpai? Are they even dating or is it like a girl having a crush on a teacher? Ugh. If it weren't for seeing her in a bathing suit, you'd think she was a man. I bet that's where her name came from. Its got 'a man' right in it. Stupid mannish horse rider with her stupid horses and her stupid…ascot. _Yaya decided she had seen enough and walked over to Astraea Lake. She sat down with her back against a tree to relax and not think about things too much. As she was calming down, whom does she see across the lake but her angel riding on the back of a horse behind _her_. She stood up with a solemn look on her face and ran clear in the opposite direction, and then back to her room, slamming the door behind her. What she didn't see was Hikari from across the lake. Hikari looked at Yaya and even from that distance, could swear she saw a look of hurt on her face. That made an imprint on her mind. Was Yaya feeling better lately? Sure she was. But was she still sad? Yaya did tell her the truth right? Or was she faking being nice to appease the blonde? These thoughts clouded her mind for the rest of the horse ride, and the rest of her evening until she arrived back at the Strawberry dorms later in the evening.

Back in her room, Yaya was soaking in a bathtub trying to cool off by picturing Amane's head on various animals. "She looks like a bird. Like an ostrich. A big flat-chested ostrich with the head of a man. With its eyes on the side of her head. Yeah." She soaked for about a half an hour before emptying the tub. She had finally calmed down, remembering her resolve to be 'just' Hikari's friend. _These last two weeks have been a lot better than before. I can do this, its…overall not so bad. Guess I just can't compete with the most popular girl at Spica. _She soaked for another few minutes, relaxing herself in the warm water. "Ah well." Yaya lifted her hands to the sides of the bath tub, stood up and threw her head back, tossing all of her wet hair behind her back, and all of its water all over the room. She felt refreshed. Looking down, she saw the water dripping from her body and smirked. "At least I've got these" and grabbed her breasts, jiggling the water off of them. "Heh. Got one thing that price of Spica doesn't have, ya flatty." She toweled off and started to get dressed. And then a devious smile formed on her face. "Enough of this. Time to have a little enjoyment." She went to her room, and started to search for some clothes to wear for the occasion.

Hikari arrived back at her room around 9:30, and like Yaya had countless times, had to quietly sneak in. And like the time two weeks ago, she snuck down the hall, but when she went to put the key in the door, it opened quickly and Hikari yelped in the hall.

"Hikari! Shhh, get inside!" Yaya was the one this time to grab the other and drag her into the room.

"Sorry Yaya-chan!" Hikari whispered as she closed the door quietly. Hikari turned around to see Yaya putting her jacket on. "Yaya-chan? Are you going somewhere?"

"I'M not, but WE are." Smiled Yaya.

"Ehhh?!"


	3. The Hammer Drops

"Ow, careful, don't put that there! Its too big Yaya-chan!"

"Well stop then and let me wiggle it a little bit."

"Ow! You poked me with it Yaya-chan!" As Yaya and Hikari walked through the woods, stepping over some branches on the ground, Yaya was having trouble fitting the flashlight into the pocket of Hikari's jacket. "Sorry Hikari, mine doesn't have any pockets."

"I can't believe I let you drag me into this. We could get in so much trouble Yaya-chan! Would you please tell me why you had to drag me outside with you in the middle of the night?"

"Not yet my dear Hi-ka-ri-chan. Sometimes you've got to take a little risk and have some fun you know."

"Mou. Yaya-chan, sometimes you're just awful. What's so great out here anyway?"

"That." When Hikari looked right in front of her, she saw the serene view of Astraea Lake. It was dark out, but bright enough to see as everything was bathed in the moonlight. The sky had only a few clouds on the horizon and the water was still with a perfect reflection of the moon above. The fireflies were out, the stars were out, and the wind was calm. It was just the peaceful night for Yaya to spend some time with Hikari while the two of them could relax. And in Yaya's mind, act like friends again without driving herself completely nuts.

"Oooh. Its so pretty Yaya-chan. It's been a while since I came to the lake." Hikari ironed her skirt with her hands and sat down on the bench, while Yaya sat right next to her. The next few minutes were had in a calm silence, just the moonlight basking the two in an ethereal glow, and not a noise was heard except for the cicadas.

"Its so nice out tonight Yaya-chan. So calming."

"Yeah."

"I'm glad you brought me out here. I've needed some time to clear my thoughts."

"Yeah."

"Yaya-chan? Are…are you really okay? I've seen you happier lately, but…you're alright with everything, right?"

Yaya's eyes opened up. _What did she mean by everything? I'm over thinking again. I'm cool, I can handle this. _"Yeah, Hikari. I really am. Thank you." And she smiled with an earnest smile. Hikari smiled back, believing her, and leaned back in a content silence yet again.

And so Yaya sat there with her eyes closed, telling herself over and over that tonight was a good thing, and this was a good idea to be around Hikari to practice being a friend, rather than moping to herself. Then the thought occurred about how much she was in love with Hikari. And once that thought entered her head, she once again couldn't think about anything but that yearning to be closer to Hikari. She tilted her head and opened her eyes just enough to see Hikari. Seeing her sitting there, gazing up at the stars, the moonlight giving her just the right glow, she seemed to almost shine. In Yaya's eyes, Hikari always shone brigher than the stars, brighter than the sun, brighter than anything she could conceive. She furrowed her eyebrows. _Dammit. I can't do this. I can't want to be her friend. I love her! Look at her, she's perfect. She looks so beautiful right now. She really is an angel. My perfect angel, except she's not mine_. And just like that, the barrier Yaya had built and all of her precognitions of being best friends with Hikari again toppled. Her gaze turned into a frown, and she realized how close Hikari was yet so far away, cliché as it is. Hikari turned to face Yaya and saw that same face. The face Yaya made when she thought no one was looking, that sadness that just wouldn't go away. Caught up in her thoughts, she didn't even notice Hikari's face two feet from hers, looking right at her. "Yaya-chan?"

Jarring her from her thoughts, she panicked. Her face turned red and she tried her best to turn on her fake smile in front of Hikari. "Yeah Hikari?"

Hikari thought back again, and again decided to be firm. "Yaya-chan…Are you really okay? …No. I know you're not. Yaya-chan, you seemed happier lately, but was that just for me?" As Hikari interrogated, Yaya's color slowly drained from her face. _Crap I wasn't ready for this. Compose yourself Nanto!_ "Y-Yeah. I'm okay, really."

"Yaya. You're not okay. You look sick. Now are you feeling ill or are you hiding something from me." The lack of her honorific made Yaya feel like she was 5 years old and got caught lying about stealing a cookie from the cookie jar. "Say something! Don't lock me out of your heart, Yaya-chan!" Hikari's eyes started to water. "Yaya-chan, I know something is wrong, I even asked Amane about it, and she said that you're just making a shell to keep me out, but I'm you're best friend! I care about you, I miss you, I don't care about that kiss, I miss how things used to be, now why won't you tell me?" The sound of that girl's name made Yaya turn from panic-stricken to jealous, and then angry. So she did what she did best. She put up yet another front.

"Oh, that's great, you're girlfriend can read me so well huh? Well what did she say? Did she say that I'm lying to you? Is she so perfect? So perfect that she can watch over you like I can't? Miss mind reader is so much better than me that you still address her as your senpai and crush on her like a screaming fangirl at a concert?" Yaya stood up and intended to keep trying to change the subject, but all that came out was her unfiltered feelings. "She pays her horses more attention than you! Screw her, she's just an idol and she's got you hypnotized. She should tend to her horses and blow off like the airhead that she is!"

"Yaya-chan! Leave her out of this, that's my girlfriend. You've got no right to insult her!"

"Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it?" For the first time, Hikari actually yelled with a full volume that echoed over the lake.

"YAYA! STOP IT! What is your problem with her! I came here to talk about what's bothering YOU, now why do you have to insult my girlfriend!"

"Because I hate her because I'm jealous that she has you!" Yaya stood there angry and Hikari's eyes just widened. Yaya finally slipped up. Her masquerade was falling, and seeing Hikari like that after actually YELLING at her made her feel awful. She could feel a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach and felt that unfamiliar feeling. Guilt. She made Hikari yell at her, and just wanted to give up. No more. She couldn't take it. _Good job Yaya, you screwed up. How are you going to clean this one up_. Yaya sighed with a grimace.

"Hikari…I-"

"What does that mean Yaya-chan?" Hikari spoke with a serious face and a flat tone that scared her raven-haired friend.

"I…-"

"WHAT does that MEAN, Yaya-chan?!"

Unfortunately, rather than man-up, anger took over Yaya and she snapped

"What do you think it means Hikari!? I'm jealous! I'm pissed off because she isn't good enough for you! She's a punk!"

"You have no right to say that!"

"Oh yes I do, I know she's nowhere near good enough for you!"

"Oh? And you think you'd be good enough for me?"

"Of COURSE I do, because I'm at least in LOVE with you already, Hikari!"

Shock filled the air as Hikari's mouth hung open, her eyes wide as saucers and Yaya stood there a mere foot from her friend, pale as a ghost, her mouth open and her eyes shut, her head hung low. _Oh no, what did I just do_.

"Ya-ya-chan? W-what did you say?" _Yaya did not just say that._ _That didn't happen. Maybe I pushed too hard._

"Um. Um. Um…" Yaya stood there with her eyes closed looking at the ground, refusing to open them and accept reality right now. "I said…" but nothing followed. Her eyes started to well up, tears began to run down her face as the floodgates opened. She looked up at Hikari, opened her now red eyes and just looked at her.

_This isn't true. Yaya doesn't…love me. I mean she loves me in the same way as I love her, like friends…right?_

"Yaya-chan?" Yaya couldn't control herself anymore, and at last she finally started to speak words that were true.

"I..I'm sorry Hikari. I love you. I love you with all of my heart. I can't sleep well, I can't speak right, I can't even tell the truth. I lied to you Hikari. I've felt like crap ever since I saw you falling for someone else. I never acted like it bothered me at first so I didn't say anything. I was hiding. I tried to convey my feelings without warning with one single kiss and then just acted stupid. I know you said you forgive me but I know you don't." Yaya was sobbing uncontrollably at this point, right in front of Hikari. _Wow, is that why Yaya kissed me? She…loves me? And… for this long?!_ "I can't take it anymore Hikari. I can't act like this. I can't be friends like this, it just hurts too much! I only wanted you to be happy, I want you to be with her. She's a nice girl, she really is, and she's lucky to have you, but I didn't think it would hurt this much! Hikariiii!" Yaya openly cried right in front of her roommate, and the thought made Hikari's chest ache in a way she never had. Hikari immediately reached forward and embraced Yaya, pulling her tight against herself, as Yaya's arms were limp. She wasn't even strong enough to hug back right then. So Hikari let Yaya just cry on her shoulder and rubber her back. _I can't believe it. Yaya has been depressed this whole time…and it's because…because_...Yaya cried standing there, and after a minute, her body automatically hugged Hikari, mostly because she was out of energy, and partly as some tiny way to apologize to her. _I'm so sorry Hikari. I'm so sorry._

Hikari stood there, replaying everything over the last several months. Her mind stopped when she replayed the time that Yaya kissed her. It was her first kiss. She had brought that little shell back for Yaya. The girl looked at her and before she knew it, Yaya had her lips caught against her own. She was too shocked at the time to think anything of it. Then Yaya grabbed at her and when it was over, she was mortified at what had happened. Her best friend has forced herself on her. Thinking about it through the following days, she assumed that it was either some sick joke, some weird punishment for something, that Yaya was especially frisky that day and crossed the line, or that maybe Yaya had a crush on someone and took out her excitement on Hikari instead. She had always assumed Yaya was being insulting to take advantage of her like that. But if Yaya had felt this distraught for this long, was it something else? The only conclusion she did not draw was that Yaya kissed her because she liked her. _That would be ludicrous, why…_The thoughts hit her at terminal velocity.

- Looking at Yaya when no one was looking - seeing that longing in her eyes.

- The smile that Yaya had when had every time she looked at the blonde.

- The way Yaya always seemed to sing better when Hikari was singing at the same time.

- The way she perked up if anyone else mentioned her name.

- The jealousy that she had for Amane.

- That time she saw Yaya nearly crying and holding her yellow dress from that date….

_Oh my God. Yaya loves me. She actually, really loves me._


	4. During and After the Aftermath

Hikari stood there holding a now frail Yaya in her arms, her shoulder soaked with Yaya's tears. She had finally stopped crying. And now that her brain was completely fried, the thought occurred to Yaya of what to do next. _Crap, what do I do? I can't chock this up to a joke or anything. I have no plan for this_. Yaya slid her arms to gently push Hikari back, shaking from a combination of her nerves and her lack of composure. Embarrassingly, Yaya looked Hikari square in the eyes. Hikari's eyes were fogged with thoughts, Yaya's eyes red from tears. They spoke at the same time.

"Hikari, I…"

"Yaya-chan."

"Go ahead Hikari."

"No you go first."

"Its okay, you go first." Yaya was nervous, her heart pounding, and trying to make any idle talk just to avoid saying anything. She had no idea what to say.

"It's a bit chilly outside, maybe we should go back to the dorms. You know, to the room. What were you going to say?"

"Oh, yeah. That's what I was going to say too. Heh heh." As Yaya forced out a nervous laugh, she dropped her arms and turned away to start walking in front of Hikari.

As the two walked back, Yaya began to panic and worry at the same time about any little detail. _She said 'the room' not 'our room.' She's going to tell me something like she doesn't want to live with me. Just as well. I blew it. I won't be living with her. I'll never see her again. I'll never…_ Yaya began to cry, heavily. She leaned over, hands on her knees and let the tears flow, and as she felt she was about to slip on her sweaty hands, Hikari caught her, and held her up, arm around her shoulder and looked at her roommate. Eyes closed, tears streaming, she couldn't help but hug her again.

"Yaya-chan, its okay. Everything will be okay, please don't be this upset, I can't stand it." Hikari felt a throb in her chest she had never felt before, and a sudden urge to make her roommate feel better hit her stronger than anything she had felt that night, even stronger than Yaya's confession. As she wiped her tears away with her hand, Yaya opened her eyes, looking down. The thought of Hikari looking right at her was too much to bear anymore. Hikari whispered to her. "Everything is alright, Yaya-chan. Let's just head back." All Yaya could do was nod. The two walked back quietly, Hikari with her arm around Yaya's shoulders most of the way.

Hikari opened the door and let Yaya walk in first as the brunette mumbled 'thanks'. She turned on the lamp, the two got undressed, and Yaya got under her covers and just stared at the ceiling. Hikari sat on her bed, looking at her. "Yaya-chan?" She knew this was coming, and it felt like the spike she had thrust into her heart was being twisted slowly.

"Yeah."

"How…how long have you lo…felt like…this...about me." When a few seconds passed and Yaya hadn't answered, Hikari turned off the lamp. But Hikari didn't lie down; she walked to Yaya's bed and sat on the edge near her knees, looking down at her.

"Yaya-chan. I..."

"Its fine Hikari, I'm sure you hate me. I'll move out tomorrow so you don't have to live with me"

"Yaya-chan! Why on earth would you think that? I just. I um…I'm not…mad. Or anything. I just, I didn't think about it." When Yaya didn't answer, Hikari started to get flustered. "Yaya please don't move out! I'd miss you too much." Suddenly that feeling she felt as she held Yaya not a half-hour before, it came back. She felt this strong urge to not let go and to not want to be apart from her best friend. "Yaya-chan, please talk to me. I'm not mad. I don't hate you. Nothing has to change. Please just talk to me!"

"What is it Hikari?"

"How long have you…l…loved me?" At those words, Yaya's eyes teared up again. Hikari immediately laid down on her roommate, digging her arms around the sheets and hugged her.

"Since…since I first saw you. Please…please leave me alone Hikari, I can't take it anymore."

Hikari lifted herself up onto her hands leaning right over her roommate. "No Yaya-chan! I don't want you to feel upset. I care about you. You're my best friend. I care about you more than anyone!"

"Pssh. Except Amane." And then Hikari really freaked out.

"No! You're my best friend! I couldn't stand being without you!"

"You have your _girlfriend_" she spat. "You love her, and that's that."

"Yaya-chan! I- I care about you too! I care about you just as much as Amane-senpai."

"Still calling her your senpai? That's a lot of respect for an equal, huh? Please Hikari, let me sleep. I'm sorry I put you through all of this, It was stupid, I shouldn't have said anything, I didn't expect you to make your poor roommate feel better, that's my job. You only love one person. Now goodnight."

"Yaya-chan! That's not true, I'm glad you were …honest with me…" As Hikari trailed off, her mind started to drift, and as she looked down, there was Yaya, eyes red and swollen, breathing slowly and harshly, asleep from exhaustion no doubt. Hikari got up, tucked in Yaya's covers, and contemplated giving her a goodnight kiss on the forehead. She stopped short and walked over to her bed, got in the covers, looked up at the ceiling and laid there, thinking about everything that had happened this evening.


	5. Thoughts

_ I only love one person?_ Hikari lay awake, and thoughts clouded her head for the last hour and a half_. No, I…love my girlfriend as a girlfriend and I love Yaya-chan as my best friend. Wait. I'm 'in love' with Amane. That's how you say it._ As Hikari lay there, she got tired, began counting the grains in the wood of her dresser. _I mean, I'm supposed to love my girlfriend. I do, right? And I love Yaya as a friend, right? And Yaya-chan loves me more than a friend. Like a girl loves a girlfriend. Like how I love Amane. Right._

Hikari closed her eyes and curled up, about to finally fall asleep. _No, wait. Yaya-chan loves me. She…worries about me. She even…okay the kiss didn't hurt me, it was shocking, but… she did kiss me. Amane hasn't kissed me yet. And Amane loves me more than Yaya-chan. Wait. _The thought stopped Hikari's mind and woke her up completely. _Yaya-chan…she…she loves me more than Amane does. She's 'in love' with me. That must be…what real love probably is. …Do I love Amane that much? …no I don't._ The thought made Hikari sit up in bed in the dark and look over at Yaya-chan. The girl slept with erratic breaths, eyes still a bit puffy, she could still see in the dim light coming through the window. A thought from the screaming match tonight entered Hikari's head. 'She pays more attention to her horses than you!' _I know that Yaya-chan was angry when she said that to me, she didn't mean it. But she does tend to her equestrian events a lot even while I watch from the sides. I wait for her patiently. She's really busy, that's all. But if that were Yaya-chan riding a horse…she'd defiantly come over and say hi._ The image of Yaya-chan riding a horse through a meadow with pink petals falling from the sky entered her head. "Nope, that wouldn't happen" she giggled. _Huh. She does pay attention to her horses more than me. _Hikari sat there, looking around the room with no rhyme or reason._ Why do I still call her senpai? Would Yaya-chan tell Amane all the stuff she said to me? If love is as strong as what Yaya has for me, and stronger than what Amane has for me or how I feel about her…why are we dating?_ That thought stuck in her head. _Why was I so enamored with her in the first place? Why ARE we dating? Heck, even Yaya-chan would make a more attentive girlfriend than her. _And with that thought, Hikari laid back and pondered for a few minutes before slowly drifting off to sleep.


	6. I can't brain I have the dumb

Yaya woke up to the most horrible sound to anyone on any planet: an alarm clock. As she threw her arm over herself to slap the snooze button, she mumbled a bunch of incoherent words.

"…wha….foo…dumb noise of… wouldn't sit up never…huh?" She rolled over and cracked open one eye to be shocked awake by the sight of Hikari's backside covered only by a towel; a towel that covered only her hair that she was drying off. As her roommate, she would respect her and not look, but as Nanto Yaya she would go ahead and take that peek. "Just…woooow" she murmured enough to not be heard. And then last night's events smacked her in the face like a brick. _No, I dreamt all of that, please_. And she groaned out loud, partially due to her awful sleep that night, partly due to her realization that she had just hammered the final nail in the coffin. The sound alerted Hikari, who gasped at the realization that her roommate wasn't sleeping, and the sudden remembrance that she was in plain view wearing her birthday suit.

She quickly wrapped the towel around herself, which she realized was too short to be modest, but would be enough for now. She quickly tiptoed over to her roommate, the events of last night registering again. But while one might expect her to change given her newfound knowledge of her roommate's feelings towards her, she felt only that feeling. The one she felt last night - that strong throbbing feeling in her chest - that feeling to comfort the brunette._ I have to be strong, and like it or not, Yaya-chan is in love and she's hurting. I have to be there for her. Wait, like it or not? Why would that be a bad thing? _

"Yaya-chan, are you feeling alright?"

"Y-yeah" her voice cracked. "I'm good. Just…" as she tried to look at Hikari in the eyes, her eyes dropped down to the gorgeous blonde in nothing but a towel that was obviously far too small to cover her appropriately, as it was too low and too high at the same time. "Just sore Hikari".

"Can I do anything for you Yaya-chan?" _I can't believe Hikari's not mad at me. Or ignoring me given what she said. Ugh. I know what she can do for me. Stop leaning over toward me so I can see down her towel. Geez, her skin looks so soft and perfect after she gets out from a bath, even her hair smells sexy. _As she thought that and glanced again down her towel, her face turned a light shade of red as she looked away, then up toward Hikari's face. _I can't take this!_

"Um, Hikari, maybe you should get dressed, because, um…" Hikari looked questioningly at the girl and noticed her blush and thought about what she was just looking at. When she put two and two together, she immediately blushed and grabbed for her towel to hike it up. This of course caused her to realize that now her butt was exposed. She fumbled to try and pull the towel up and down at the same time and ended up slipping and tumbling to the floor in one direction while her hand grabbing the tightest was in her other hand. She made a loud "thud" as she unceremoniously…well…fell on the floor naked. She shrieked, grabbed her towel, and just ran toward the bathroom, slamming the door behind her, moaning in frustration.

The ever-observing roommate of course looked up after the thud to see if everything was all right and was again greeted with the backside of her roommate fumbling with her towel and running naked to the bathroom. _My nose isn't bleeding is it?_

A now panicking blonde was freaking out in the bathroom._ Oh my gosh, I made a fool of myself right in front of her. Did she see me? Oh God she did! I'm sure she did. And she was looking at me I'll be because…because… _Hikari let out a frustrated groan with her face sweating and her breath still ragged._ This is what I asked for right? I wanted to be assertive to get Yaya-chan to tell me how she's REALLY feeling. I just had no idea she had feelings for me! Okay, I can handle this. She's my best friend. She just happens to be in love with me. _At that thought, Hikari's heart started to beat faster. _Unnnh, I've got to relax. I can just get dressed and pretend that nothing has happened. But Yaya loves me! She is in LOVE with me! _Her heart pounded against her chest. _Why is my heart beating so fast?_

"Hikari, are you alright? You've been in there a while. Um, here are your clothes; I'll just leave them by the door. I'll meet up with you later…if you want." Her voice trailed off quietly and sounded just a bit sad, and Hikari noticed.

"A-arigato, Yaya-chan." _She's sweet with things like this. She thinks I'm nervous because of what happened, so she brought me my clothes so I wouldn't have to head out there in a towel again. And then she left so I wouldn't worry about her seeing me when I opened the door. I don't know why I'd have to worry. It's fine. After all, we've seen each other before in the bathing area, so it's no big deal. So why is it a big deal now? It's not. Everything is fine. Yeah. Everything is okay. So I have to make sure Yaya is okay, I hope I didn't worry her. I better get dressed quickly and go see her_. As she began to put her clothes on, she thought about her situation as the object of her roommate's affection. _She felt this way about me when she kissed me, and afterwards, and after I forgave her. Forgave her? That's not fair, she didn't really hurt me. She just couldn't control herself I guess. Oh Yaya-chan, you've been hurting for this long and it was because of me and I didn't know. How could I not know my roommate was in love with me?! Maybe I am dense. It's okay that Yaya-chan loves me. I will still be her friend; nothing has to change. But I pushed her too hard and she told me something she had been keeping inside. Maybe there is more she's keeping from me? I guess if I had paid as much attention to her as she has to me, I'd know that. She's been a much better friend to me if I think about it like that. And to top it off, she…she's had this burden on her mind for so long. She loves me and she didn't tell me…because she wanted me to be happy so she kept it in. Oh Yaya-chan…you…didn't have to go through that. It's…it's okay that you love me. _And when Hikari thought that, again her heart beat pulsed faster. _Why does my heart beat faster when I think of Yaya-chan being in love with me? What is this feeling? It's…I just need to be around Yaya-chan right now. I better hurry. _

Meanwhile…

"Aaaaaaaghhh!" Yaya emitted a loud scream of frustration out loud as she left the Strawberry Dorms, which scared several first year students as they recoiled in shock.

"GREAT! Now I gotta live with someone who knows how I feel AND I managed to make things awkward. Good going Nanto, way to add some gasoline to the already flaming heap of tires." As she walked toward the dining hall, she then realized "Since when did I talk to myself out in public?" She looked around and noticed a few first and second years that has stopped with a frozen expression on their face, watching her walk by. _Probably should keep my frustrations here, in the inner monologue. _As she walked into the dining hall, she noticed her friend, the blunette from St. Miator, Suzumi Tamao.

"Hey Tamao-san."

"Hello Yaya-san." (Applause! Applause! Tamao is here!) "How are you today?"

"Ugh, I'll tell you later. Lets just sit down." As the two made their way through the dining hall, they spotted Tamao's roommate, the transfer student and object of Tamao's affection - the redhead known as Aoi Nagisa.

"Tamao-chan! Over here!" When Tamao saw the redhead, her face brightened up as she smiled with the same kind of genuinely happy smile that Yaya used to have around Hikari.

"Hello. Yaya-san, will you and Hikari-chan be joining us today?"

"Yeah, Hikari will be here shortly I'm sure." As she said that, she turned her body around on her seat to scan for people entering, and soon saw the face of her unrequited love. As soon as Hikari saw Yaya's face, hers immediately lit up and she smiled, walking over toward the others. _A smile that can light up a room. At least she doesn't look mad, so she must be alright. Hikari never was that good at faking emotions._

"Hi Yaya-chan. And hello to you too, Nagisa-chan and Tamao-san."

"Hello Hikari-san. Please do join us, as we haven't started breakfast yet." Tamao said with a smile as Hikari joined the three. Tamao noticed something in the smile Hikari gave to Yaya as she sat down as well as the look she gave back. She didn't say a word but would make a mental note of this in case she wanted to consider the brief thought later.

The girls ate and afterwards, they all went off to their respectful classes. When Yaya and Hikari walked to class after the girls left, the two were side by side, each caught up in their own thoughts and too nervous to say anthing.


	7. Over thinking too much excessively again

The two roommates from the St. Spica end of campus were walking from the dining hall to their classes, both deep in thought.

_I'm so glad Yaya-chan didn't seem too upset. I'll have to talk with her later. I sure hope I'm not making her nervous. I hope everything can go back to the way they were before, and we can be friends again_. Hikari walked with her mouth slightly open, thinking of what to say and how to make Yaya happy. Given the events that unfolded, Hikari blamed herself for her roommate being off kilter. Yaya was having her own internal struggle as well.

_I can't believe I made it through breakfast. Having to talk with everyone as if nothing has changed was a nightmare. There's Nagisa and Tamao as normal as can be, and Hikari next to me, acting as if nothing happened after all that's transgressed. And that's another thing. Her smile seemed genuine. Is she actually feeling normal? She finds out her roommate this whole time is head over heals for her and she seemed okay? I even insulted her horse f ... uh, riding girlfriend and she STILL talks to me? Is she in shock? How can she be okay with this? I should just forget about any chance with her. If only I could._ _Besides, I've put her through far too much already. Especially given I was so brash and selfish enough to steal her first kiss._ Without thinking, Yaya's hand, as if by reflex, moved toward her face. She softly traced her finger over her lips, as if to revive any detail of how her first kiss with Hikari felt.

As Hikari continued to ponder ways to talk to her roommate about friendly things, she glanced at her roommate as the two walked down the hall. She looked to her side and saw Yaya deep in thought. She noticed when Yaya's hand rose toward her face and she ran her finger over her lips. _I should be a better friend to Yaya-chan, like how she is to me. She notices everything about me, and I don't know anywhere near as much about her. I could be more observational. Like right now Yaya is… checking her lips, probably to see if they are chapped. Does she use chap stick? I wonder what flavor her favorite is. I've seen her wear lipstick before. She looks so mature and bold when she does, like a lady. She wears it really well. Probably because her lips are so pretty and soft looking._ While continuing her observation, Hikari's thoughts continued on in that direction. _She does have pretty lips, and a pretty face. Yaya-chan really is striking. I wonder how soft her lips are? Oh right._ Hikari then began to piece together fragments of that broken memory of _that_ time_. Yaya-chan kissed me with those lips. I don't recall how they felt very much, just that she then grabbed my…_Hikari's heart started to race as she blushed and felt uncomfortable. _She…she didn't mean that I'm sure. I mean it wasn't out of malice like when Kenjo-san did it._ _She just tried to make the kiss…I can't remember. What was I thinking about? _Remembering that she was thinking about how soft her roommate's lips were, she began to get even more flustered and had to try and make herself stop from turning red. Her heart rate continued to accelerate, as she got more uncomfortable. _B-besides, if I really wanted to know I could just ask her to kiss me again._ Her brain floored as her face turned red and her eyes widened._ I did NOT just think that! Okay, change of subject!_

As Yaya continued to recall the events of the evening after Hikari's date, her thoughts were interrupted with the angelic voice of her roommate. "Yaya-chan? Um…I'm sorry if I upset you this morning. I'm okay and…thanks for leaving my clothes for me."

"No problem. And um…thanks for being so cool about all of this."

"But Yaya-chan…" before Hikari could continue, the girls walked in the bustling crowds of students in the halls where the two could barely hear each other as everyone began to pile into their classes. In no time Hikari was in one class, and Yaya was in another.


	8. What is this Feeling?

Yaya sat in class, her mind a blur. She was tired and trying her best not to think about her roommate. She sat in the back of the room with her arms crossed on the desk and her head lying upon them. As she looked up and out the window, she saw the sunlight streaking through the leaves on a nearby tree. She saw the leaves rustle from a light breeze that went through the leaves, and the beams of light that shone through the leaves looked like a few streaks of dancing golden sunlight. _Wow even the sunlight is reminding me of Hikari. Her perfect golden hair; it dances in the sunlight too._ She continued to watch the leaves dance around as the sunlight filtered through the tree. _Yeah, easy for you, tree. You're not trying to stop being in love with your roommate._

Nearby, the golden-haired student who was cluttering the mind of Nanto Yaya was caught in her own thoughts. Most of which were thoughts of that time that Yaya took her first kiss._ That thought once scared me, and now I can't stop thinking about it. What do I say to her next time I see her? She's uncomfortable around me. Maybe because she thinks I'm uncomfortable around her. What do I do? What do I say? _As her thoughts started to race faster and faster, she grew uncomfortable in her seat. Thankfully, class was dismissed before she drove herself crazy.

Hikari would normally go look for Yaya after class given they were so close by, but her mind had been reeling all class, paying no attention to anything but her inner thoughts about that time Yaya kissed her. By the end of class she was mentally exhausted, and when it ended, she bolted out of class and ran in the opposite direction of Yaya's class, clear out the building and halfway across campus.

"Why…*huff* did I… *huff* do that? Ah geez. I need to clear my head. Is there anyone I could talk to?" Hikari's first thought was of course of her roommate. "Anyone but her right now!" Hikari's talking out loud attracted the curiosity of someone nearby.

"Hikari-san?" Thankfully it wasn't her roommate, but her friend Tamao.

"Oh, um, Tamao-san, hello."

"I heard you talking and out of breath. Is everything alright? Did you need someone to talk to? I assume anyone but Yaya-san right now?

"Ehh? How did you know it was about Yaya-chan?"

"Woman's intuition" she stated flatly and sarcastically. "Come on, let's go to my room and I'll make us some tea and you can relax.

"Thank you Tamao-san." The two walked calmly back to the Strawberry dorms, chatting about nothing in particular. When the two got to her and Nagisa's room, they found it to be vacant so they entered and closed the door.

"Is there anything you would like to drink Hikari-chan?"

"Um, no I'm fine, but thank you Tamao-san."

"Please Hikari, Tamao-_chan_ is much less formal. Now tell me my friend Hikari-chan, what is it that you can't talk to your best friend about? Might I assume it's about her?"

Hikari turned a faint shade of red at being put on the spot like that, especially given what she was thinking about. But if Tamao could give her advice she would gladly talk about it. _It could help her our friendship I suppose_. "Yes, well…okay. Um. I was…well..I was thinking about, um…" she hesitated before she said anymore, but then thought back to how she wanted to help her roommate. _You can do this, its for Yaya-chan. Be strong, you can be honest. _"Um, I was thinking about…Yaya-chan's lips. I started to think about when she kissed me after that night I got back from a date with Amane-senpai. She kissed me so abruptly that it scared me and I really don't recall much else. And today I can't think of anything except that kiss. I was thinking about how soft her lips are and now I can't get that thought out of my head. All I can think about now is kissing Yaya-chan! Tamao-chan, what's wrong with me?"

Tamao giggled and looked at Hikari with a smile. "Well, having no other clues but what you've told me, my first guess is that you might have developed a crush on your roommate."

"WHAT?!"


	9. Something to mull Around

Hikari was completely shocked at the accusation of possibly having a crush on her roommate. She was dating one of the most popular girls on the entire campus. The idea that she could fall for her roommate was absurd. She was certain that she couldn't possibly do that. At least she thought she was almost certain. "Tamao-san, how can you say that!? I have a c-c-crush on Amane-senpai. I don't like Yaya-chan like that!"

Tamao looked at the petite blonde with intrigue and considered her reaction, not just with her words, but with her body language. The fact that she reacted immediately like that with so much force, and yet her voice doubting herself when she spoke of her girlfriend. "I'm sorry Hikari-chan, I didn't mean to shock you like that. Please sit down." As the two sat down, Hikari's expression remained just as shocked. "I'm sure you care for Ootori-san very much, and I guess maybe I was wrong to assume such a thing."

Hikari pondered for a moment, calmed down and responded. "Why would you think that I …cared for Yaya-chan more than Amane-senpai?"

"Well, the fact that Yaya-san is clearly your best friend, and the closeness you share. Ootori-san seems to be someone you admire, but Yaya-san is someone you respect. Oh, and should your better half be addressed so formally? Yaya-san is your friend, but addressing someone you claim to be attracted to as senpai for this long? Doesn't seem like you're dating, it seems more like that of an arranged marriage. Besides, I think that it's very possible that you could develop feelings for Yaya like she has for you." Hikari's eyes widened upon hearing that last part as she lunged forward in her chair.

"_How did you know Yaya-chan loved me?!_" Hikari screamed at the volume of a whisper.

"Lucky guess? Ehehe. I see how she looks at you because…" Tamao finished with a sigh "I too know what it is to be hopelessly in love with one's roommate. Please don't say a word to her yet Hikari, but the way Yaya-san feels about you is the same as the way I feel about Nagisa-chan. I don't think she knows yet, so please, mum's the word. But I do know Yaya-san enough that she hides herself from things like this very well. So, tell me. How did you come to know of her feelings?"

Hikari was overloaded by this point, but continued on as the pressure of a headache built up in her head. "I um, I pushed too hard. I was worried about Yaya-chan, and asked Amane-senpai…I mean Amane-san, for some advice. So I decided to take the advice and be strong, for Yaya-chan's sake. I pushed and pushed, wondering what was bothering her for so long and it ended in an argument and Yaya-chan just sort of let it out. So I thought about it, and I guess its fine how she feels about me, but now it's all I can think about. She's on my mind nearly constantly. And now I'm thinking about _kissing_ her! I shouldn't think these things about Yaya-chan. Shouldn't I want to be thinking about kissing Amane-senp..I mean Amane-san? What do I do Tamao-chan?!" Hikari sat back, mentally exhausted, with her eyes closed.

Tamao sat for a full minute looking at her, thinking of what to say. _There might be a hope for these two after all_. "Hikari-chan. Look at me. Now. And give me your hands." Hikari sat up with her eyes open. Looking confused, she reluctantly put her hands in Tamao's. The blunette smiled at Hikari and spoke calmly and softly. "I think I can help you. Let's play a little game. I'll ask you a question, and you tell me what pops into you're head. Now don't think, if you can help it. Just answer me. Honestly. So that I can help you." The thought of any kind of help made Hikari very eager. "Hikari. Do you love Amane-senpai?"

Hikari thought for a moment, against Tamao's advice. "Well, yeah. Sure. I mean, she's my girlfriend, so of course I do. I mean…um, I guess I wouldn't say I'm IN love with her..." Tamao interrupted before she could continue.

"Okay then. Hikari, what do you think of when I say what is Yaya's best trait?" Tamao knew this was not a simple question, and it left the blonde time to think for a moment. But decided to blurt out the first thing she thought of this time.

"She's a caring person. She folds my clothes for me, and she looks out for me. She worries about me. She makes me feel safe. Sometimes she lets me sleep in her bed. She waits for me anytime if I ask her, and sometimes even if I don't. She's…she's Yaya-chan." As she said those words, Tamao noticed a serene look of happiness on her face. _Oh boy, might have to spoon-feed this to her. Here we go._

"So Hikari, who do you care about more than anyone?"

"Yaya-chan of course." Hikari smiled as she said this. _Well I'm sold at this point. Let's see if Hikari figures it out too._

"What if I told you Amane had to transfer schools for a while, how would you feel?"_ I hope I'm leaning this enough in the right direction for her._

"Huh?!" Hikari's eyes opened wide, seeing if this was a trick question. When she saw Tamao looking right back at her with a flat expression and a simple smile, she did what she asked and said the first think that popped into her hear. "I'd…miss her a whole lot. I admire her. She's my girlfriend!" _Admire huh? Okay, lets try this._

"What if I told you Yaya-chan had to transfer schools right now?"

"NO!" Hikari pulled her hands back and stood straight up looking down at Tamao. "Tamao-chan, that's not true, right?!"

"Heh heh. No Hikari-chan, Yaya is not going anywhere. I wanted to learn something. You would miss Ootori-san, but you couldn't stand being without Yaya-san.

"I…I couldn't stand being without Yaya-chan." _Now maybe she's getting it. Does she not see how much more focused on Yaya she is? Well, here goes nothing._

"Hikari, remember what was on your mind when you came in here?" She paused and as soon as Hikari's face blushed, she continued. "Be honest. If you could kiss Yaya-san right now, would you?"

"Uh, umm…" Her face slowly turned a very deep shade of red, as she started looking downward and hid her face in her hands. Tamao stood up, pulled Hikari's hands from her face and gently tilted her chin up.

"Hikari, as a friend or as anything, it doesn't matter. Who do you _love_ more? Ootori-san or Yaya-san?"

And finally, it clicked in her head as she fell backward, sitting on Tamao's bed. "A…A…" she looked up at Tamao. "Yaya-chan." The gears in her head reeled as she came to the conclusion. "Oh my God. It's not because of the memory of that time; I want to kiss Yaya-chan because I _like_ Yaya-chan! Oh my God. What do I do? I, I can't. Because I care about Amane-senpai more, right?" The gears in her head were spinning fast enough to cause steam to come out of her ears. "Oh geez, what do I do? Tamao-san, help!"

"Hikari, just relax. Its alright, I can help you figure this out." Tamao tried to calm the blonde, however said blonde stood up and started pacing around the room, trying to make sense of her revelation.

"Tamao-chan, what do I do? What do I say? I care about Yaya-chan more than anyone. I…do I have a crush on her? Do I like her more than Amane-senpai? Do I tell Yaya-chan?"

"Hikari-san, calm down. Take a deep breath. Now relax."

"Okay. Wait, no. How do I relax? What about Yaya-chan? She's felt so bad because she likes me but I don't like her in that way. Wait, but do I like her in that way? Do I really have a crush on Yaya-chan? Do I tell her? She'll freak out because…wait, this is a good thing! I can tell her and we can be best friends again, right?"

"Or maybe something more. Though you might want to tell Ootori-san first."

That thought hit Hikari like a brick. What was she suppose to do? She finally realized that she could have developed a crush on her roommate, but what about her 'girlfriend'? _Oh no. I can't tell Amane-senpai about this, can I? Besides, this is just a fleeting crush. It'll pass. Right? I also better not tell Yaya-chan, it might get her hopes up and would only end up hurting her more, right? I don't want to hurt Yaya-chan anymore; she doesn't deserve that. She's the sweetest girl I know and she's been hurting because of me. Oh my gosh, I do really care for Yaya-chan more than senpai, don't I? _Hikari sat there for a while, as Tamao let her sit there and think for quite a while.

"So if Yaya-chan has a crush on me, and if I have a crush on her, then everything will be fine and we can be friend's again. Everything will be fine then, right?"

_This girl actually believes that? Poor thing has blown a head gasket. Well no problem. If she can get over her infatuation with Ootori-san, maybe she and Yaya would end up together. I sure hope so._ "Sure it will, Hikari-chan."

"Thanks Tamao-chan!"

With her new resolve, she said her goodbye to Tamao and headed for her room, convinced she could make things better with her roommate and get over her newfound crush so as not to hurt her Amane-senpai.


	10. Things Get Better

Hikari headed back to her dorms, thinking about her roommate yet again. _Okay, so maybe I think that Yaya-chan is the most important person in the world, and maybe to me she is, but I don't necessarily LOVE her. I mean I'm not IN love with her the way I'm suppose to be with Amane-senpai. _That thought stopped her._ Supposed to be? Should I even be with her anymore? _Hikari continued toward her room, walking slowly as her head was still reaming from her recent talk with Tamao. _Was I suppose to be 'in love' with Amane? I…guess I'm not. Well I'm back. Maybe Yaya-chan will have a joke to tell me, or I could brush her hair or something. Anything to distract me. I just want to be friends like we used to be and forget about all of this. _As she opened the door, Yaya was at her desk, doing her homework of all things.

"Hi Yaya-chan." The blonde smiled at her roommate but the other girl didn't raise her head. She turned to close the door and walked over to the brunette

"Hey Hikari." Upon noticing that Hikari was standing right next to her with her hands behind her back, looking over her shoulder, she closed her book, sighed and looked up. "Hikari, lets talk."

"Sure!" Hikari's cheerful attitude was a bit surprising to her roommate given the downtrodden tone, but any talking would be better than nothing_. Anything to not to have to think anymore. I was actually enjoying my homework too._

She sat down right next to her roommate, as they looked each other in the eyes. "Look Hikari, I've been giving it a lot of thought. First I want to tell you that I'm sorry. I didn't mean to blow up at you the night we were at the lake, and I'm sorry I insulted your gir…your girlfriend. I know she means a lot to you, and I just said stuff out of spite." Yaya looked down at her friends clothing, tracing it in her mind, and then to the floor. "I, um, would rather you not have known how I…feel about you …and maybe it would be best if I tried to find another room on campus." Hikari's eyes softened and sank, as she remembered how she caused Yaya so much grief in the past. All of her recent thoughts left her head, as she suddenly only wanted to make her roommate feel better.

"Yaya-chan…" Hikari started slowly, reached down and took her roommate's hand in hers, as had happened once before. She placed her roommate's hand between her breasts and lay her palm flat against her chest. " Yaya-chan, I'm glad you were honest. It makes me very happy to know that you feel so strongly for me." _What is this feeling? My heart is racing, can she feel my heart beating? I'm getting hot. _"Do you see how much your friendship means to me? I just…" as Hikari's words trailed, Yaya looked at her with a gentile smile. Rather than smile back, she looked again at her roommate's lips. _They look so pretty, I…what am I doing? _As Hikari was about to lean forward, Yaya then spoke, answering her words.

"You just don't feel the same about me. Its okay Hikari." Yaya smiled, a sad smile with empty eyes and a look that made Hikari forget about her lips, but made her heart burn with that feeling of a need to make her roommate feel better. The look in Yaya's eyes made Hikari physically ache, and as Yaya retracted her hand, she felt like her heart was being pulled out of her chest into a black hole. She was immediately hit with an intense desire to make Yaya happy. A thought hit her so hard that her face drained of all color. She felt a huge knot in her stomach; she felt panicked, hot, sweaty, light-headed and scared to death all at once. But in spite of that, and all the thinking she had been doing and in spite of all the uncertainty she had, everything became clear all in a fraction of a second. She now knew why she had such a strong desire lately to make her best friend feel better.

_Oh my gosh, I think I love Yaya-chan!_


	11. Did you really make it worse?

Hikari was speechless. Every gear in her head stopped at the same time. Her face paled and her breathing hitched. It was like someone unveiling a billboard about you, right in front of you, while the whole world behind you sees it too. It felt like accidentally spilling the beans about a crime you committed right in front of a judge. Even though no words were said and this only happened in Hikari's mind, it was just as permanent as if she told the world.

"Hikari, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." Yaya looked at Hikari's face, pale white, and completely stoic. _Oh geez, don't tell me I made it worse. I'm sorry Hikari! I'm sorry I fell in love with you…and I'm sorry I can't stop! Why did you put my hand on your chest Hikari, do you have any idea what that does to me? Just the thought of touching you Hikari makes me…makes me…_Yaya's mind imagined her and Hikari smiling brightly at each other, embraced in each other's arms, sharing a passionate kiss on the grass under the stars. _I love you Hikari…_ and then her mind went again to her hand on Hikari's chest, right between her breasts. She looked down, blushing slightly, imagining her hands roaming over the girl's perfect figure. _Down girl. Save those thoughts for when she isn't here. _As hard as it was, Yaya tried to compose herself; she looked up and noticed Hikari still carrying the same blank expression on her face. _Crap, she's broken. _"Hikari? Earth to Hikari-chan, hello?"

Hikari broke out of her trance and noticed that Yaya's face was but inches from hers. Next thing she knew, her mind severed connection with her body. She looked at her roommate, placed her hands on the brunette's shoulders and pushed her down onto the bed. She then hovered over her, hands on the mattress on either side of her shoulders. She stared at Yaya's lips longingly, as Yaya looked up at her shocked. _Holy crap, did Hikari just push me down onto the bed?_ "Hi…kari?…" Yaya looked up at Hikari, who had an enigmatic look upon her face. At that time all Yaya could guess, probably because she wanted to, was desire. _Hikari, this is your fault…_ Yaya's arms reached up around Hikari's shoulders, she leaned up, closed her eyes slightly, looking at Hikari with nothing but desire. She leaned up, her lips inches from Hikari's, closed her eyes enough to only see her through her eyelashes enough to watch Hikari's eyes begin to close too, and whispered. "I love you Hikari."

That thought brought Hikari back to earth. Her mind and body reconnected in thought. The first thought being "_What is happening?_ _I can't do this! I'm dating Amane-senpai!_" Hikari immediately opened her eyes, leaned back to standing straight up…bringing Yaya with her. Yaya's eyes opened, but her grip on Hikari's shoulders was firm enough to have her stand up as well as well as fall toward Hikari, having her bodyslam Hikari right into the ground. The blonde crashed onto her back, hitting her head on the floor, and the rest of the impact being absorbed by Yaya's elbows.

"Ow, shit!" Yaya moaned as she slid her arms out from under Hikari, wincing in pain. "Geez, that funny bone isn't funny." As she rolled over to her side and began rubbing her arms, she opened her eyes and saw Hikari grabbing her head. "Hikari? Hikari! Are you alright?"

"Unnh, ouch that hurt." Hikari opened her eyes to see Yaya beside her, partially leaning over the girl. That reminded her of what transpired a few seconds ago.

"Yeah, hope I didn't break my elbow, if you can even break an elbow." Yaya closed her eyes and rolled over onto her back and started to rub her elbow. " How are you feeling Hikari?" Yaya opened her eyes when she heard no reply. "Hikari?" Yaya looked over and immediately heard the sound of her door opening and Hikari running down the hallway at full speed. _Oh no. I…what did I do? _"Hikari!" Yaya yelled, slowly stood up, and started after her roommate.

Hikari ran at full speed, not quite knowing where she was running, or quite why. _Yaya-chan nearly kissed me! No wait…I nearly kissed HER! What was I thinking? I know what I was thinking. Oh my God, I've fallen for my roommate! I nearly cheated on my girl…friend. _After a few minutes of running, she slowed down to take a breather under a tree at the edge of a clearing._ I…I can't do this. I…I actually wanted to kiss her! But what about Amane-senpai? What do I do? Do I…do I break up with her? No! I can't do that_. Hikari sat down under a tree, her back leaning against it, sure that she was far enough from her roommate. She stared out at the sky over the field as the sun began to set and the clouds turned pink and orange. She started to think, and then started to cry. _Oh my God I love Yaya-chan and it hurts. It actually hurts! Has she been feeling like this for so long? She endured this just to make me happy? Oh Yaya-chan! And I ran away like that! She probably thinks that I didn't want to do that when it was my thoughts considering this all along! _Hikari continued to cry closing her eyes when a second thought entered her mind._ She said she was going to move out!? No, I..I couldn't not be around Yaya-chan! _She sat there crying when a familiar sound approached. She looked up to hear the clopping of horseshoes as she saw her prince of Spica riding toward her. _I hope she'll understand_.


	12. The other aftermath

Yaya returned to her room after spending the entirety of dusk running around campus looking for her roommate. _Geez I can't believe I'm so stupid as to repeat the same mistake twice. Get over it, Nanto-san! She doesn't love you. She…doesn't love me. But that's okay. At least she's my friend. _If she could lie to herself to keep herself happy, it'd be okay at least for now. So long as she could keep from going crazy long enough to apologize to Hikari._ I wonder if she knows what she does to me. Her golden hair, her perfectly pink lips, her smile that lights up the whole world. And a girl who drives me mad running around looking for her so I can apologize. Maybe she'll be a little less sad about what I did. Ugh, I need to bathe._ Yaya stood there for a moment, looked up at the ceiling, and recalled today's events. _Hikari, I hope that you will be happy, no matter what. Because I love you._ Yaya sighed and closed her eyes. _You perfect angel._

Hikari walked slowly toward the Strawberry dorms. Night had fallen and the light from the street lamps by the sidewalks lighting her face hopefully was low enough to hide her tear-streaked cheeks. She was crying slowly, sobbing a little, her puffy eyes evidence that she was far worse earlier in the evening. She contemplated running clear off campus to live in the woods forever. Her thoughts were interrupted when, from a distance, she could see a St. Miator uniform walking towards her. _Please, I don't want anyone to see me like this right now. _Luckily it was someone who wouldn't hurt a fly. "Hikari-chan! Hi."

_Oh, it's okay._ "Hello Nagisa-chan."

"I'm just out to enjoy the weather and take a walk before coming in. Hikari-chan, what's wrong?! Have you been crying? Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"I'm…okay Nagisa-chan. I just..."

"What's wrong?"

She began to tear up again. "Amane-senpai and I just broke up."

"_WHAT?!_" Hikari visibly recoiled and looked down as Nagisa's eyes widened in shock. She shied away worrying that someone might have heard the red head shriek. She replied in a hushed tone.

"Um, can we talk about this inside, please?"

"Sure, Hikari-chan. Want me to follow you?"

"Er, I'd rather we go to you're room if that's all right."

"Yeah, sure." The two walked into the building and into Nagisa's room where Tamao was sitting at her desk writing. When Tamao heard the door click, she immediately shoved her journal into her top drawer and looked up. As the door opened, Tamao looked up to see a flustered Nagisa and a very puffy-eyed Hikari. When both girls looked at her, she noticed Nagisa chan's breath hitched just a bit. "Uh, hey Tamao-chan." As she looked at both girls, she noticed Hikari looked very uncomfortable. Considering what she had discussed with her not long ago, she thought that perhaps she and Nagisa wanted to talk by themselves. She stood up from her desk and quickly got an idea.

"Hello Nagisa-chan and Hikari-chan. I'm sorry the timing is so awful, but I have to leave. I just remembered that I lent one of my textbooks out and I will need it this evening. I will be back later, I'm sorry to rush off like this." Tamao gave a sweet smile and walked between the two to leave the room.

"Okay Tamao-chan. Be careful, if it gets too late. Remember to keep quiet and not get caught by the headmistress."

"Sure thing Nagisa-chan." The two watched as Tamao walked out and closed the door. As soon as the door swung closed, they looked at each other and hurriedly walked to sit down across from each other.

"Hikari-chan! What do you mean you and Amane-sama broke up?"

Hikari's cheeks reddened again with a heavy feeling as she sighed and looked down. "Nagisa-chan…promise not to tell anyone, okay? At least not yet."

"H-hai Hikari-chan."

"Um, okay. Well, you see _I_ broke up with _HER_."

"_WHAT_?!"

"Shhh, keep your voice down."

"Sorry, Hikari-chan. But I'm shocked! She's the price of Spica! Why on earth would you break up with her?"

Hikari swallowed and looked timidly at Nagisa. "To be honest, I didn't love her. Promise to keep quiet about this too, Nagisa-chan?" Nagisa nodded her head quickly and gave Hikari at least a little reassurance about her less than perfect resolve to keep secrets. "I recently discovered what…well I think what love is suppose to be, and I think what began as merely an infatuation with Amane-senpai became a relationship. I know that we weren't meant to be because I didn't love her. So I, um, decided it was for the best to not continue on dating."

"Wow. I still can't believe you did that. Are you alright Hikari-chan?"

"Yeah I'm…I will be alright. It just hurt. It hurt me to look at her face, partly to see the pain in her eyes, and partly because there wasn't a whole lot of it there. She felt the same way about me. It was merely an infatuation that went farther. She wasn't really 'in love' with me either."

"Oh. Is it because there is someone else you love then Hikari-chan?" That question made her feel that pulling in her chest again; a feeling that she now recognized. Her mind immediately went to her roommate, thinking of when she kissed her - thinking of all of the teasing Yaya did to her, thinking of that look in Yaya's eyes that showed how much she truly yearned for Hikari. That thought of knowing that Yaya would do anything for her is what made her find the courage to talk with her now ex-girlfriend. "Hikari-chan?" She looked up at Nagisa and realized she had zoned out.

"Oh. No Nagisa-chan."

"Oh." Nagisa relaxed a little bit. _Yaya-chan was right. Nagisa-chan really is gullible._ "OH! Hikari-chan, can I get you something to drink? I've got some of Tamao's tea that's still warm, we made it earlier."

"Sure Nagisa-chan. I could use it." She looked over at Nagisa, getting out the cups and saucers, her eyes blank, as she got caught up in her thoughts again. _I wonder how Yaya-chan is doing?_

Yaya had just sat down on the other side of the dorms, in her room, into a nice warm bath. She was listening to music on a pair of headphones connected to an old cassette walkman she had dug out of the bottom of her dresser. Though Yaya was in her room where she said she would be, Tamao on the other hand was not where she said she would be. Right after she closed the door to leave Hikari and Nagisa, she walked a few feet only to realize she didn't hear the door latch click, so she turned to return and close the door properly. Before she reached the handle she heard her roommate cry out from the other side of the door. -

"WHAT?!"

"Shhh, keep your voice down" spoke Hikari from the other side of the door. Tamao would normally walk in to see if everything was alright, but given their awkwardness before, she figured it would be best to give the two their privacy. Unfortunately given Tamao's ways toward her roommate, curiosity got the better of her. She stood in the hallway with her back to the wall, leaning close to the slight opening with hear ear close to the door.

"Sorry, Hikari-chan. But I'm shocked! She's the price of Spica! Why on earth would you break up with her?" _Hikari broke up with Amane-san?! She didn't think…_

"To be honest, I didn't love her. Promise to keep quiet about this Nagisa-chan?" "I recently discovered what…well I think what love is suppose to be, and I think what began as merely an infatuation with Amane-senpai became a relationship. I know that we weren't meant to be because I didn't love her." _Oh my. I think she took that advice and told Amane-san..._

"Wow, I still can't believe you did that. Are you alright Hikari-chan?"

"Yeah I'm…I will be alright. It just hurt. It hurt me to look at her face, partly to see the pain in her eyes, and partly because there wasn't a whole lot of it there. She felt the same way about me; it was merely an infatuation that went farther. She wasn't really in love with me either." _Well done Hikari, I'm glad you figured it out. Now will you tell Yaya-san the truth?_

"Oh. Is there someone else you love then Hikari-chan?" _Are you going to tell her Hikari?_

"Oh. No Nagisa-chan."

"Oh." _Guess not, she's a pretty bad liar, but of course Nagisa would believe her. Better not let them catch me out here listening in; that would be bad manners. I think I'll go and take a walk._

When Tamao arrived at Yaya and Hikari's room, she knocked quietly. When she heard no response, she knocked louder. _Hmm, maybe this is a sign I shouldn't meddle. Hikari looked pretty upset, and she probably doesn't want Yaya to know that she broke up yet. _After half a minute of hearing no response, she smiled slyly and thought _…on the other hand, if I recall, these two have a tendency to not lock their door. _Tamao slowly opened the door and called out quietly. "Yaya-san? Are you here?" She heard a faint sound in the bathroom that sounded like a low whirring sound. _Did they leave the sink on?_ She went to open the bathroom door.

Yaya heard a noise, opened her eyes and took her headphones off. When she turned to look at the door it cracked open, and she immediately grabbed her towel to cover herself off. "Hikari? J-Just a second…"

When she tried to stand up, she reached too far for the towel, slipped and fumbled with it and fell back into the water, pulling the towel in with her. "Dammit!" Nervous and impatient about Hikari still, she wasted no time and tried to stand up quickly. She wrapped the wet towel around her, holding it closed with her fist and turned to face the door to see a very amused Tamao. "Tamao-san?!" Yaya relaxed just a little bit. She attempted to exit the tub once again a bit too quickly and her foot found the soap. "What are you whaa…!" This time she tried to brace herself from falling, forgetting her hand was in a fist, and lost her balance, flinging the wet towel right at Tamao before making a big splash in the tub again. When Tamao removed the towel from her face and wiped her eyes, she opened them to see Yaya's eyes closed, her body emerging soaking wet from the bath and threw her head back to fling the hair from her eyes. She stood up, wiped the water from her eyes and looked for Tamao once again. "Tamao, what the hell?!" As she yelled, the water dripped from her body and she unconsciously wiped the water from her face and chest. Tamao noticed this and watched the woman's breasts jiggle, eliciting a shocked expression from the blue haired girl.

"The monster shows itself twice" she said with a smirk.

"Ugh!" Yaya growled as she walked over to fetch another towel. She threw it around herself and walked up to Tamao, who now looked a bit less reserved. "Yeah, yeah, we know I got the goods. Now I've had a pretty crappy day and had just relaxed. I hope you have a very good reason for elevating my nearly explosive heart rate just now!"

Tamao giggled and relaxed. "Sorry Yaya-san, honestly I thought the sink was running and was going to turn it off."

"Okay, and you heard that all the way from your room?" Yaya spoke quite irritated.

"Of course not. I came down here to…well I was hoping to find you alone."

"Geez, ya gotta see the merchandise again? You need to calm your libido Tamao-san, or at least take it out on your red-headed roommate." Yaya stood with a stern look with her arms crossed.

"Oh, no not that Yaya-san. I, well… I know its not polite to spy and listen in on other people…"

"Clearly!"

"Um, but I was worried after I heard a scream. See, I was worried about Nagisa-chan. She and Hikari were having a discussion it seems." At the mention of her roommate's name, Yaya suddenly tensed. _Is Hikari okay? _"I probably shouldn't tell you this, but having so many things hidden will only drive people crazy. Yaya-san, you're a very smart and perceptive girl and I wouldn't want to hurt you…"

"Are you seriously confessing to me after getting a free peep show?"

"No, Yaya-san! I'm trying to tell you that I know how you feel about Hikari-chan!" Yaya's eyes looked down and saddened right then. "And I know how Hikari-chan feels about you. I overheard she and Nagisa talking! She broke up with Amane-senpai, and I might have been the catalyst! And I think its because she's falling for you!" Hearing that made Yaya's eyes go totally wide, and all but stopped her entire world.

"What are you saying now?"

"Look. Hikari and Nagisa don't know I'm here, but I heard them outside the room. Hikari came in with her eyes red and puffy, and I heard her talking to Nagisa-chan. She broke up with Ootori-san, and she said that she was upset. Upset cause neither one was in love with the other. Now I really shouldn't be saying this, because I'm blowing everybody's trust to bits here, but I talked to her earlier and she's got a bit of a crush on YOU! Now she's upset right now, and the person who I'm sure she WANTS to be talking to right now is you!"

_No way._ Yaya stood there mouth agape, letting this all sink in at lightning speed. _Is that where she went when she ran off? _As soon as it clicked, she looked at Tamao. "I have to go!"

Yaya was almost out the door. "Yaya-san! Its late, you might want to wear more than a towel, lest you have your own army of fangirls."

"Oh, right!" She quickly toweled off, threw on a shirt and some shorts and took off down the hallway. _No time to think. Just go, Nanto_.

"I'll close up for you!" _Yaya is a lucky girl. If only my love weren't so unreciprocated._


	13. Right Here

Yaya was standing at the door in front of Tamao and Nagisa's room, listening to the murmuring inside the room. She sighed, and slowly reached for the handle. Standing there, thinking again about what Tamao had just said, she recalled the events of letting everything slip. _I told her everything and she didn't hate me. In fact she tried harder to be a good friend. Who would be comfortable, when you tell your roommate you're in love with her and are jealous of her girlfriend? I figured her being nice to me was some sort of guilt but…is it possible? I mean she wouldn't possibly, actually, really consider me over the prince of Spica. Would she? Even after I blurted out my feelings for the past...who knows how long. Well, there's something Tamao isn't stupid enough to do._

Suzumi Tamao was one usually for keeping secrets. A sweet girl who kept to her privacy, she also had some strange things kept private. Things such as a few personal effects of her roommate that the red head either stopped looking for or never realized she had lost. To most this might seem selfish and obsessive, and perhaps to some degree it was, but as lonely as she was, deep down she truly cared for her friends. And though spying and not keeping secrets was something she did not like to do, there were times where she deemed it necessary to break her own rules. In the case of Yaya and Hikari, she had seen them interact for so long that she felt she had to do something. She just had to get it all out into the open lest something happen like Romeo and Juliet, with terrible timing and horrible consequences. She couldn't let that happen. She had to get the two, who she knew cared about each other; to let the other person know, plain and clear. She concluded that she would do just that. She left Yaya's room and headed back towards hers, hoping that throwing this out in the open so brashly wouldn't be TOO embarrassing and uncomfortable for everybody. It was a means to an end, one that Tamao was going to try. As a girl who might never see her unrequited love change, Tamao was willing to try anything to help Yaya with hers.

Yaya sighed, and touched the handle. _Well, can't make anything worse. First and foremost, she's my best friend, and if she needs a shoulder to cry on, that's my job. And if by chance she…she…_Yaya shook her head and opened the door, heart racing and palms sweating.

"Hikari." Hikari immediately turned to the door with the redness still on her face. All thoughts of Hikari and her as a couple evaporated, as she immediately thought only about how to make her beloved feel better. _Oh Hikari, you look so sad, that look does not become you._

"Yaya-chan? What are you doing here?" The blonde's face immediately becoming a feint shade of red, still contorted to form a sad expression but with a very small but genuine smile. Her outsides showed discomfort, but her insides felt relief just by seeing the raven-haired girl.

"Uhhh.." _What do I do now Nanto? I can't apologize for that in front of Nagisa-san. I'm not even sure if Hikari feels…_

As the seconds ticked by with nothing being said by any of the three, Yaya did not have to make a choice about what to say. Fate decided to prevent her from yet another panic attack. The door behind her opened wider, the doorway being occupied by Tamao. The blunette swallowed and took a deep breath.

_Okay, gotta do what I gotta do_. "Yaya-san, would you please stand inside? I need to close the door." _This might not be easy, but it's for my friends. We cannot continue to have tea parties with this much tension. It just won't be fun._

"S-sure Tamao-san" replied Yaya. _Anything to buy me more time. How did you get here so fast anyway?_ As Tamao closed the door, she took Yaya's hand and led her right next to an increasingly nervous Hikari. Her eyes were puffy-eyed and her mind was mentally exhausted as much as the reddening Yaya who now sat across from her.

_Why is Tamao's hand on Yaya's hand? Those two aren't…together, are they? No, this can't be happening! Am I too late?_ Hikari's thoughts raced a mile a minute as she looked firmly into Yaya's eyes to see any clues. Her mind was still racing with the thought of Yaya's hand on her chest, the near-kiss they almost shared, and, oh yeah, she had just broken up with her girlfriend because she figured that she didn't love her, but loved Yaya more.

Tamao retracted her hand, and looked at the three girls. "Attention everyone. Look, I'm going to make this quick and hopefully not as bad for everyone, so I'll just say everything out in the open. No more thinking, no more secrets." All three other girls immediately paled and had the same thought: _Tamao, don't say a word!_

"I'm sorry for this." _Oh please no, she's not that heartless, please no_. As panicked as everyone sat there, no one had the time to consider running away. "Hikari-chan, Yaya-san is in love with you. Yaya-san, Hikari-chan is now single and has feelings for you. Nagisa-chan, I listened behind the door to what you two were talking about. There. Now everybody knows. Yaya, Hikari, now you don't have to hide anything from each other. I know you two both have each other's best interests at heart."

The room, although dead silent, was extremely loud for one raven-hared girl who heard the deafening sound of her heart pounding in her chest. Hikari on the other hand, her heart had come to a complete stop, and Nagisa sat there shocked at the revelation that not only had she JUST heard that Hikari was single because of her feelings, found that she had a crush on her roommate, and her roommate had a crush on her? Tamao simply sat there with a matter of fact look on her face, as if expecting for all of the pieces to fall into place right then and there.

Not being able to take the maddening silence in the air, Yaya was the first to talk, and blurted out the first thing on her mind. "Hi-Hikari? Is that true? You broke up with her because of me? I…wanted you to be happy, and she made you happy."

"I…um, I w-wasn't in love with her Yaya-chan. And…" Hikari looked at Nagisa and Tamao and realized they knew how she felt, there was no reason to hide it from Yaya anymore. _I have to be strong. Be assertive_. "I…w-wanted to kiss you, back in our room. But that would be cheating and that wouldn't be fair." Both Nagisa and Tamao's eyebrows rose at hearing that. "And….and…" Hikari looked at Yaya, who looked right back at her. Yaya had a look on her face of total shock, a look that bordered on the look of terror and panic. The silence was killing her. She looked around at Tamao and Nagisa for any sign of support.

However the silence was also killing Hikari. Her mind decided yet again to break down. _Why can't I say anything more? Why did Yaya glance at Tamao just now? Is it shock? Is it disgust for her spilling these secrets? Does Yaya still want to get away from me? Does she hate me? Is she in love with Tamao or something?!_ _No!_ Hikari jumped up, ran for the door, and took off down the hall with the intention of running straight out the building and into the night.

Tamao, with a shocked expression, looked toward Yaya's face, pale white, on the verge of tears. "Yaya-san! What are you doing?! GO!"

Yaya immediately jumped up and opened the door, looked down the hall and heard a door swinging, to which she followed, with every intention of following Hikari to the end of the earth. _Dammit Tamao, that is NOT what I had in mind! Hikari wanted to kiss me? Oh my gosh, does that really mean?_ "_HIKARI!_"

Yaya ran at full speed out the building and through the courtyard lit only by streetlights, looking around as fast as she could to find where Hikari had taken off too. She nearly sprinted halfway across the campus looking for her. When she slowed down to stop and breathe, she was right near the entrance to the dining hall outside. Panting and wheezing, she looked around and heard a feint sniffle. She looked over to see Hikari sitting on the stairs. She slowly walked over slowly, afraid to scare the girl off.

With barely above a whisper, she spoke. "Hikari."

The blonde's head snapped up to see Yaya standing right in front of her, sweat glistening on her forehead, her hair unkempt and messy, her chest still heaving from the breathing after running after her. "Yaya-chan."

Yaya walked over to sit next to the blonde as her head tilted down to look at the ground. Yaya sat on the steps next to her, one leg straight out, her arm holding the other one up to her chest.

"Hikari, I only wanted for you to be happy, no matter what. Please tell me you didn't break up with your girlfriend because of my stupid crush on you."

"Its not stupid Yaya-chan! You care for me a lot more than she ever did! You've always been there for me, and I can't even think about anyone else! You're the only person I can think of." She turned to look at Yaya with tears streaming down her own cheeks. "I…" she looked down again with a look of total sadness. That look struck Yaya to the core, seeing Hikari cry like that. But at the same time, her heart started to flutter. So she looked anxiously at Hikari, leaned down next to her and spoke softly.

"Hikari…do..do you….l-l…love m-me?" Yaya's voice started to break, as her heart strained in anticipation as she asked the question that she had asked so many times in her dreams. Her body immediately tensed up as she felt her body get hot in the matter of less than a second.

Hikari smiled as brighter than Yaya had ever seen, even with tears in her eyes. "Yes! I love you Yaya-chan!" Yaya's heartrate doubled and she felt every bit of her anxiety fall away. "I'm so sorry for all the pain I've caused you, I understand now! I'm sorry for.." Yaya stopped her talking with a simple finger over her lips, and uttered the words that would leave Hikari breathless.

"Hikari. I love you." As bright as Hikari's smile shone, the happiness on Yaya's smile brightened up the entire campus, as she started to cry tears of relief. Relief that after so long, something she thought was impossible, happened. Hikari, seeing Yaya crying, could only turn toward her best friend and wrap her arms around her, smiling as widely as she could, and hug her as tightly as she could.

Yaya felt Hikari's warmth against her as they continued to embrace, Hikari's heart beating a mile a minute, and Yaya crying tears of joy into Hikari's shoulder. After a while, she leaned back while keeping her arms around the angel she loved. "I love you Hikari."

"I love you too, Yaya-chan." That thought made Yaya smile and laugh light-heartedly while letting just one more tear roll down her cheek.

"You're eyes are all still red."

"So are yours Yaya-chan."

"Yeah. Um, lets go back to our room."

"Okay." Yaya stood up and reached her hands out to help Hikari stand up. The two wiped their faces clear of their tears and turned toward the Strawberry Dorms.

"We better stay quiet, or we'll get caught. Oh, but we need to hurry too, I don't remember locking our room."

"Oh, right. Let's go."

"Hikari?" She reached her hand out to within an inch of Hikari's hand. Hikari saw this motion and grabbed her hand, interlacing her fingers with those of her roommate. This simple act of kinship lit Yaya's heart ablaze. Her heart rate nearly tripled, and she felt very warm inside. She recalled a happiness she first felt when she met Hikari. The thought made Yaya look right into Hikari's eyes, just smiling as widely as she could. Hikari smiled right back, and the two began to walk back to their room.

"I…" before Hikari could finish her sentence she felt that familiar throb in her chest. Only this time it wasn't a strong feeling, more of a warm feeling that made her heart beat faster and her head feel fuzzy, but in a good way. "I'm so glad that this happened. I'm glad that all of this craziness happened. I never realized how much you meant to me Yaya-chan."

"Hikari, I couldn't be happier" she again beamed. The two walked back across campus without interruption, through their hallway and into their unlocked room. "Tamao is such a sneak. She's going to end up being as bad as Minamoto."


	14. Shower Time

The two arrived without issue in spite of it being late enough to be the only two awake on their entire floor. As Yaya and Hikari closed the door to their room, Yaya went to walk to the bathroom as Hikari walked toward her dresser. The two didn't make the connection that they were still holding hands. So Hikari walked one way, and Yaya walked the other, and they pulled on each other. Yaya being the somewhat more balanced of the two, ended up pulling Hikari off her feet.

"Eeek!" Hikari fell toward her roommate and let go of her hand to prepare for impact, but fell into something soft before hitting the ground. Namely Yaya and her greater than average bust size. Yaya wrapped her arms around Hikari, looking down at her, while she opened her eyes and looked up. The look in the blonde's eyes made Yaya feel absolutely wonderful. Her wish had finally come true.

"If you wanted a hug, all you had to do was say so, Hi-ka-ri-chan." Yaya smiled yet again, still overjoyed at having Hikari feel the same way about her. _I am the luckiest girl in the world. I'm so happy! I'm in love with Hikari and Hikari loves me back!_

In spite of their recent revelation, Hikari still blushed at the realization that her head was in her roommate's cleavage. "T-thanks Yaya-chan." Hikari stood up and looked at her roommate smiling at her. She turned her face away bashfully, still a little embarrassed about where her face just was.

"You're welcome, my angel." Hearing that made Hikari look back at her roommate. She took a mental picture of her face, as if to have it for when she was sleeping, so she could recall every detail about Yaya's face even when they weren't looking at each other. Her eyes wandered to her roommate's lips, and she was reminded of how if that had not happened, the events that transpired might not have happened. She smiled a happy smile, but immediately turned into a yawn. _We need to get to sleep. I'm exhausted and I can't think about Yaya-chan's lips anymore tonight. After all, I can probably look at them tomorrow too. _Then the thought occurred that she was waiting on her mind to process. _I want to kiss Yaya-chan. I guess I could now? Oh my gosh am I going to kiss Yaya-chan? Our first REAL kiss? I wonder what it will feel like. _When she broke out of her trance, she noticed her roommate was gone.

"Yaya-chan? Where did you go?"

"I'm in the bathroom! I need to shower again." Yaya shouted from the bathroom.

"Didn't you already shower? Your hair is still wet."

"You can come in if you'd like." Hikari walked toward the bathroom door as Yaya continued. "See, Tamao headed over here, actually snuck in the room and into the bathroom and interrupted me." Hikari listened and heard the shower start, as she walked to the bathroom door to open it. "Hikari?"

"Yeah, Yaya-chan, I'm here." She opened the door and walked in, and as soon as she found her roommate, her eyes went wide. She saw Yaya, stark naked, with her head back under the shower. Yaya was facing the wall giving Hikari a dead side shot of her entire body. Her other senses severed connection to her mind as everything went in slow motion for her. The water flowed over Yaya's entire body as Hikari followed it from top to bottom. She had her arms up, rinsing herself off. Her hair was flat against her head, falling right down to her waist, clinging to the small of her back. As her eyes went down, she noticed Yaya's face as she was talking, but didn't hear a word of it. She studied Yaya's long eyelashes with water dripping off of them, down her face right along side her mouth. She fixated on Yaya's lips yet again, noticing how soft and gracefully they moved even as she did something as simple as talk. The water fell down her slender neck onto her rounded shoulders, and down over her breasts. _Wow. Yaya-chan is absolutely gorgeous_. The water fell right off her breasts and trailed down her flat stomach and over her very curvy waist. _Geez, she's even got those womanly curves of that…what's it called? Oh, hourglass figure. _As she continued to watch the water fall, it trailed down her long legs, down her calves and onto her feet. As she was looking, she failed to hear the shower turn off or notice Yaya turning her head to see Hikari spaced out. So she raised her voice a little to see if Hikari had listened to a word she'd said.

"So yeah she's a bigger pervert than you are, gawking at me like that." Breaking out of her trance, Hikari's eyes soon darted up to look at Yaya with that deer-caught-in-the-headlights look. "Enjoying the view?" Hikari's mouth was immediately dry, not sure what to say. _Oh geez, I'm staring at Yaya-chan like this, I am a pervert!_ "This is all for you Hikari, take me now!" Yaya shouted with the motion of ripping a towel off her body to reveal herself nude as she already was, dripping wet.

"A…a… I'm sorry!" Hikari turned beet red, turned and ran into her bedroom, throwing herself and her face into her pillow. Yaya on the other hand just smiled. _Heh heh. I missed teasing her like this. Didn't think Hikari was one to look at me like that. She can look at me all she wants, that beautiful angel. Wouldn't hurt to tease her a little more, she's just too adorable when she turns red like that!_

Hikari closed her eyes as tight as they would go, which was unnecessary given her face was buried so far into her pillow that she could barely breathe. _What was I doing? What was I thinking? I was actually staring! I was staring at Yaya-chan…naked…wet…staring right at me…oh geez I AM a pervert! Damn you Yaya-chan, why do you have to be so…so…um…sexy? _The thought of that word made Hikari feel a bit dirty_. I can't think of her that way! She's my roommate who…I love? I do love her. _That though relaxed her. _I love Yaya-chan. I love her and she loves me. _She smiled, and uncovered her face from the pillow. _I suppose it's okay to think about her in that way_? As she finished that thought, the door to the bathroom opened, revealing Yaya in her pajamas, toweling her hair. She was going to tease Hikari some more, but as she looked at her sitting on her bed smiling at her, all she could do herself was smile.

"Hey. Shower's ready for you." This puzzled Hikari.

"Hmm?"

"Did you forget when you ran away from me? You may want to clean yourself too."

"Oh, right. Thanks Yaya-chan." Her smile stuck on her face. _She's always been so considerate of me, always thinking of me. I guess that's one reason why I love her. _Hikari went to look for some clothes as Yaya continued toweling off. Then a devious grin appeared on the dark-haired temptress. She walked up behind Hikari and wrapped her arms around the girl's waist, and intentionally pressed her chest into the blonde's back, an act that made the blond tense and shriek.

"You don't need to shower if you don't want Hikari, I even love your natural scent" Yaya all but growled with a grin on her face from ear to ear.

"Ahh! Yaya-chan! Stop!" She grabbed Yaya's arms away, grabbed her clothes and bolted into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. Yaya just laughed.

_Forget considerate, Yaya is abusive!_ She heard Yaya's voice through the bathroom door. "Hikari, if you want to see how clean you should be, I can show you how I washed myself in front of you again!"

"YAYA-CHAN!" Hikari turned a bright red even alone in the shower. _Geez! She really is terrible sometimes. Just because I saw her showering and watched for a little while. _Her mind drifted off until she heard her roommate bellow through the door.

"You're thinking about me again aren't you?" Hikari turned even redder.

"Yaya-chan, go to bed!"

A while later, Hikari finally came out of the bathroom clean and dry. Yaya had already turned the lights off and was sitting up in her bed reading by a small lamp. "Hey, sorry about teasing you earlier Hikari. You know I love you though right?"

Hikari smiled at the thought. "Yes. I… love you too Yaya-chan." Those words she spoke made her smile even wider. She walked over to her bed and got under the covers. "Its late, you should get some sleep, Yaya-chan."

"I will Hikari. Goodnight."

With a yawn, Hikari returned the 'goodnight'. She rolled over to face away from Yaya's bed and lamp, mixed up in her thoughts of the girl just a few feet away from her. She heard a click as Yaya turned off her lamp, bathing the room in a calm darkness. The window was slightly cracked allowing the occasional breeze to whisper by. The room was illuminated by the feint moonlight, which barely outlined the top of the drapes by the windows. As Hikari lay there, contemplating today's events, she heard the abrupt ruffling of sheets from her roommate's bed. A few seconds later, she felt her sheets being moved. "Yaya-chan?"

"It's a bad storm outside, can I sleep in your bed Hikari-chan?" Yaya spoke those words with a fake timid voice, while at the same time pulled Hikari's sheets back to join her. She shimmied herself in before the blonde had a chance to reply to the mocking of Hikari's past behavior of wanting to sleep with Yaya during a storm.

The raven-haired girl wiggled herself into a comfortable position as Hikari rolled over on her back so she could turn her neck and look at her roommate. "Yaya-chan…thanks for opening up to me that night down by the lake. I'm so glad you told me how you felt, otherwise we might not be here right now."

"Thank you, Hikari, for pushing me. I…can't tell you how much better I feel now, not having to weigh my head down with my thoughts of…trying to hide it from you. I love you Hikari."

"Oh Yaya-chan." Hikari turned to her side to wrap her arms around her roommate. Yaya soon returned the favor by snuggling up and wrapping her own arms around Hikari. The two laid together in Hikari's bed, in a very content silence. They began to fall asleep in each other's arms, both having the best night of sleep they ever had.


	15. What lies beyond?

The sun rose over Astraea hill, bathing the trees in an orange glow. The birds were chirping, the skies were calm, and girls all over campus were waking up to get ready for their day. Two girls in particular were sleeping a few minutes late - in each other's arms, in a state of nearly total bliss.

Hikari was the first to wake. Her thoughts were cloudy as her eyes refused to open. When she went to turn her body, with the intention of trying to look at the alarm clock, she found that she was immobile. She opened her eyes groggily to see the sleeping face of her raven-haired roommate inches from her. The thoughts of last night came back to her. _Oh, I can't move because I'm wrapped up in Yaya-chan's arms. Because…_a rosy tinge tinted her face._ Because…Yaya-chan loves me. _Hikari decided to stay there for a minute._ I'm sure breakfast can wait just a little bit longer. Yaya-chan is beautiful even when she's sleeping. _As she gazed at the sleeping face of her newfound love, her eyes fixated on her lips._ I can look at Yaya-chan's lips all I want right now. They look so soft. I can't wait to kiss her. I don't suppose it would be right for me to steal a kiss while she sleeps. Well…maybe just one kiss. _As she leaned down toward Yaya's lips, it seems fate decided to tell her to wait until she was awake.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

"Aieeeyaa!" Hikari immediately flung herself back at the sound of Yaya's alarm clock.

"Wha? Huh? Where's Schala? Unnn, that freakin alarm" Yaya groaned as she sat up and held her head. She got out of bed to turn it off and promptly smacked the snooze button hard enough to hurt her fingers. _Yaya-chan sure doesn't do mornings._

Hikari finally relaxed after the shock the clock gave her as she nearly stole a kiss from her best friend. "Are your fingers okay Yaya-chan?"

"Yeah I'll be fine." Yaya's expression turned from frustration promptly to happy as the thoughts returned to her head from last night. _I got to share a bed with Hikari. And… I didn't have to hide the fact that I love her. She said she loved me!_ Yaya immediately walked over to Hikari, leaned down and put her face less than two inches from hers. "I love you Hikari" she beamed brightly. Hikari's breath hitched in her throat and her face turned pink before she could reply. "I take your breath away? Well I don't blame you, I'm just that awesome." She turned around and walked over to get changed. "Come on Hikari, lets go get breakfast. I'm starving. You can watch me get changed later." As she finished that sentence, she turned around to Hikari and winked at her, causing the blonde to roll over and shove her pillow over her head.

As she was finishing getting changed, Hikari's pillow shifted enough for her to mumble. "I love you Yaya-chan."

The two girls walked to the dining smiling hall to meet a very anxious Nagisa and a very confident Tamao. Yaya looked at Nagisa and then at the face of Tamao_ Oh, there's miss overly confident. I got a bone to pick with her and her big fat mouth from last night_. The girls exchanged pleasantries and headed to a table for breakfast.

"So…um, did…everything go well last night?" Nagisa was nearly jittery with excitement, and shaking with anxiety, wanting to know if the two opted to just be friends, or if Hikari got her wish.

Yaya interrupted Hikari before she spoke, and looked right at the two girls. "Oh last night was GREAT. Thank you so much Tamao, the SEX was amazing!"

"YAYA-CHAN!" Hikari screamed attracting the attention of a few surrounding tables as Nagisa's eyes widened in horror and Tamao actually spit her drink out in shock.

"WHAT?!" Tamao's expression resembled that of a child who was told that spring break was going to be cancelled and replaced by more school.

"Yaya-chan, people are staring!" Hikari whispered as she sat there, her arms wrapped around Yaya's arm, cowering into her with a sheepish expression and an embarrassed face. Yaya stood up and addressed the crowd.

"Okay everyone, I was kidding, nothing to see here." She sat back down to address her friends. "I was kidding you two. That was a hell of a face you made there Tamao-san.

"Geez Yaya-san, that was a bit over the line, even for you."

"Yeah, just like sneaking into someone's room to stare at their wet, naked boobs."

"Yaya-chan!" Hikari squealed at the volume of a whisper into her arms with her eyes shut.

"Alright, alright." She began to pet Hikari's head and then turned to look at Tamao. "But if you must know, you nosy little bee, yes everything worked out for the best. Lets just say we talked things out and our feelings are mutual." Upon hearing that news, Nagisa beamed.

"I'm so happy for you two!" Nagisa unknowingly wrapped her arms around Tamao's arm.

"That's great you two!" Tamao gave her congratulations to the new couple. But when Tamao thought about it, they weren't quite a couple yet. "So, Yaya-san, are you and Hikari-chan going to go out on a date?"

"I thought it would be nice next weekend" Yaya spoke very matter of factly. Hikari on the other hand, was shocked.

"Ehhh? What?"

Yaya turned to face Hikari. "Well, Hikari, what do you say? Will you go out with me?" And although Hikari was very enamored with Yaya, it didn't prevent her from turning red, be it in public, or just the two of them alone. She put her head down and buried her face in Yaya's sleeve.

"Ah, uh, I…I'd li…like that Yaya…chan."

"Great! Well, be ready shortly after class. We both need date clothes and I have nothing good enough for the occasion of going out with the 'beloved angel of Astraea hill'." Hikari groaned at hearing that out loud in front of her friends. "Get dressed after class, Hikari. We're going on a field trip off campus."

"Ehhhhh?!"


	16. School Daze

The sun was high in the sky, shining on all of Astraea hill. The sky was clear blue and the girls had separated to attend their respective classes. All of the girls were excited, waiting for the last class for the week to end. Hikari was sitting in her chair, both excited and nervous about what was planned for this evening.

_What are we going to do? Where is Yaya-chan taking me? So long as it's with her, I don't mind. Wow I guess I do love her, huh? Maybe I just realized it. I've always cared for Yaya-chan. I didn't know what she meant to me until Tamao-chan dragged it out of me. I should do something to thank her. Maybe when Yaya-chan and I go shopping I could get her and Nagisa something for what they have done for me. I'm so happy I could scream! I want to do something for Yaya-chan too. She's been so wonderful to me. Maybe I could help find her something pretty for our first date. Oh my gosh, our first date?! Wow, I can't believe it. _Hikari's face unknowingly turned into a big silly grin._ I'm going on a date with Yaya-chan! Yay! I want to tell the world! It's…going to be great! We can go shopping this afternoon, and we can walk back here hand in hand while the sun is setting, and we can walk around campus by the lake, and…I just can't wait! I get to spend the whole afternoon with the most wonderful girl I know. The most caring girl I know. The most…attractive girl I know… _Hikari was grinning like an idiot, jittering in her seat until her sensei decided to bring attention to her.

"Konohana-san? Anxious to start your weekend early?" Hikari immediately realized how far off in dreamland she was. She looked at the teacher as heads turned to look at her as her smile died and she tried her best to minimize her embarrassment.

"Ah, um, I'm sorry sensei, I um…" Hikari trailed off, not quite knowing what to say and failing to keep as calm as she would have liked.

"Can you reiterate what I just said, Konohana-san?"

"Um, I wasn't following clearly, sensei."

"Alright, please try to pay attention in the future. Stop by my office after class."

"Yes, sensei." As everyone's attention went back to the teacher, Hikari groaned at the thought of actually getting in trouble over being distracted. She sat there trying to concentrate until the bell rang. _It's not my fault, Yaya is too sexy!_

In another classroom at St. Spica, a certain someone's ears were itching. Yaya got up from her desk to collect her things as Tamao walked up to say hello. "Yaya-san, how are you? You seem distracted."

"Oh, I'm fine, ears were ringing. Someone must be talking about me."

"Is that so? I hope nothing ill was said."

"Something tells me it was a good thing. So how are things with Nagisa after my outburst at breakfast? Shall I do for you what you did for me to bring things to the surface?"

"Ehehe. I'm still sorry about that Yaya-san, I just couldn't stand seeing you like this any longer, and I'm glad what happened, did happen." The two continued to talk as they made their way out of class and slowly down the hall.

"Yeah, yeah. Lucky you, for your sake" Yaya said with a grin. "You're just so clever sometimes, like how you changed the subject and avoided my question about your beloved as well. All the effort you went through to shove Hikari and I together, you're telling me Nagisa has no clue that you feel the same about her as I do about Hikari?"

"I'm afraid so. She is a little bit more…free-spirited about her passion for life and the friends she cares about."

"Another beautiful poem Tamao, but the word is 'dense.' I suppose even telling her outright might not get her to understand."

"I'm afraid so Yaya-san."

"One of these days, I'll have to help you like how you helped me. Tamao, I've never been so happy!" Even given Tamao's thoughts of her own roommate, seeing the happiness on Yaya's face made the blunette genuinely smile. "Speaking of which, where is my lovely angel? Hikari was suppose to meet me after class." _Wow, Yaya even smiles when she says Hikari's name. I'm so happy to see her like this._

"I haven't seen her, isn't her class that way?"

"It is. I'll go see if I can find her." She turned to her friend and gave her and earnest smile. "Tamao. Thanks for everything." Yaya smiled as she spoke and turned to walk toward her beloved. Tamao turned to walk away, thinking how much she would like to be in the Spican's shoes right now. _Lucky girl._

When Yaya walked down the hall, she saw an unfamiliar door open. Hikari walked out with a depressed look on her face, followed by a teacher. _I know that face. Looks like someone besides me got in trouble._ Yaya waited around the corner until she separated from her teacher to spare her too much embarrassment. When Yaya looked, she saw the hall empty except for Hikari walking alone, with her books in front of her and her head down. When the blonde rounded the corner, Yaya immediately walked next to her and put her hand around Hikari's shoulder.

"Now now Hikari-chan, tell Yaya what's wrong."

Hikari jumped away from Yaya at the action. "Yaya-chan! Oh, I mean its just you. Don't scare me like that! Geez. Anyway, I'm fine. What do you mean?"

"Heh. I've been there before Hikari. What did you do to get in trouble?" The two started to walk side by side as Hikari blushed.

"U-um, I was thinking about you and my mind wandered off in class. The teacher scolded me for not paying attention." Yaya blushed just a bit and snickered as she smirked at Hikari.

"Hikari…I, I didn't know you were so bold. If you think you're ready for THAT. Well, I can't say I don't think about it myself…" Yaya wrapped her arm around Hikari's shoulder to pull the blonde toward her in a hug. She then let her hand slide down her arm, trailed down her back, over her butt and onto her leg as her finger brushed against the bottom of the girl's skirt.

Hikari turned as red as a tomato, when she stared wide-eyed right at her roommate. "YAYA-CHAN! Oh my God, not THAT! I was thinking about our date and what we were going to do tonight!" Her voiced dropped to a whisper level. "Please stop, we're in the hallway!"

"Ooh, so if we were in the library like that one time…"

"Yaya-chan!"


End file.
